Best ways to buy and how to complain: what I’ve learned as a consumer champion
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After 20 years of writing for the Guardian – at first on Jobs & Money and more recently as one of the Consumer Champions – this is my last week before I cycle off into the sunset. Over that period I have seen, and reported on, the 2008 financial crash, the boom in bank fraud – and, more recently, the crazy time in people’s finances that was Covid.
This is what I have taken from the experience – and how it has informed the way I manage my own finances.
Use two-step verification
When I started this job, online banking was relatively new; First Direct’s telephone banking was still the thing. The rise of online accounts for everything from banking to gas and electricity means we are now much more exposed to having our details hacked, or accessed by scammers.
The No1 piece of advice I give to anyone who will listen is to sign up for two-step verification on every account you can.
Once set up, it requires you to input a code every time you sign on using a previously unused device. The basic systems use text messages. Better still, sign up with one the more sophisticated versions such as Microsoft or Google Authenticator or Authy.
Having it set up on your email is an absolute must. A hacked email account is a gateway into someone’s financial life. Fraudsters can reset your passwords, and all your financial dealings are usually on display.
Talking to readers I am always shocked at how many people – some who have been treasurers of charities – still haven’t cottoned on. Not to have it set up is, frankly, asking for problems. The same is true for mobile phone accounts.
Shun debit cards online
Are you one of those people who shop online using their debit card? Why? I never input my debit card details and always use a credit card instead.
If the website later gets hacked, do you really want the account into which your wages are paid and out of which your mortgage and other payments leave to be at the mercy of the scammers? The fallout from having your bank account blocked or frozen can be a nightmare.
If a scammer runs up a bill on your credit card, it’s the card provider’s problem.
A few years ago my credit card was used by someone to buy flights and a hotel. I never discovered how they had got my details, but suspected a hack at a website/company I had legitimately used. My bank account was unscathed, and the card issuer sorted it all out.
Use your pension to save
If you are saving for the long term rather than to fund a house deposit or specific purchase, you would be crazy not to make voluntary contributions into your pension, especially if you are a higher-rate taxpayer. Employees can put in up to £60,000 a year, tax-free.
Because you are taxed only on your net income – what’s left after those pension contributions have been removed – you get a 20% or 40% (depending on your tax band) uplift to the amount you are putting away each month, compared with just putting your taxed salary into a savings account. That £1,000 into your pension is only worth £600 if you wait until after tax – less if national insurance is also taken into account. This makes even more sense if you earn above the child benefit clawback threshold, which is now £60,000.
Someone earning £65,000 a year who puts £5,000 a year, or £417 a month, into a workplace pension would be able to keep all their family’s child benefit.
The big downside of pension topping-up is that you can’t access the money until you are 55.
Avoid cheapest insurance
Journalists always implore readers to shop around at renewal time, and I am no different. However, there are a couple of things to add.
Faced with a list of insurers on a comparison site, I won’t opt for the very cheapest. Instead, I look for a supplier that I can phone, with its number listed on its website.
I then look at the online reviews, focusing on posts from people who have claimed, rather than just bought, a policy. Companies that answer the phone tend to be better at paying out, in my experience. Big-name companies are easier to deal with if there is a problem.
When buying a car policy, I do protect our no-claims discount but don’t ever buy legal expenses cover (car or home) because it only pays out if your claim is a near legal certainty, in which case you don’t need it.
I don’t bother with home emergency cover, as so many readers have found it to have been worthless.
Fraudsters rely on stress
I have written a lot of bank and other fraud stories, and the common theme is that the victim was under some kind of stress at the time: they were trying to book a holiday, moving house, or dealing with a big life event.
The scam email/text or call arrives at a time when you are expecting some kind of contact. You might have been trying to book holiday accommodation and your card is declined. The scammer calls you at just that moment, so you assume it is the bank. They have enough detail on your affairs to sound plausible.
It’s easy to say, but you really need to pause, take a moment, and think about all the scams you’ve read about. Tell anyone who calls claiming to be from the bank that you will call them back, using the number on the back of your debit card.
Fraudsters rely on, and are very good at, creating a fear that your money is not safe. If in doubt, call a trusted friend before you take any action. Never hand over to a third party any payment verification codes you have been sent, or allow remote access to your computer.
If booking accommodation, always pay using the trusted internal payments system – such as at Airbnb – and never make a bank transfer. I would never send money to pay for an item, as on Facebook marketplace, unless I was picking it up there and then.
If the item you are interested in is a huge bargain, or the seller is pressuring you to complete the purchase that moment, these are both warning signs.
Banks to go for – and to avoid
I often get asked who I bank with, and the answer is Nationwide. The building society has a strong track record of paying out to victims of fraud, has generally kept most of its branches open and, in my view, is the most ethical place to keep your money. It’s not perfect, but it stands out in this sector.
Which banks am I less keen on? I wouldn’t keep a large balance with any of the so-called challenger banks, particularly Monzo and Revolut.
I have featured too many Barclays stories to recommend it. The way it treated charities late last year – freezing accounts without warning – says it all for me.
The Co-op has become a bit of a disaster zone in my view, locking people out of their accounts on multiple occasions, and the way Metro has featured in readers’ letters in the past, doesn’t fill me with confidence.
Dealing with energy companies
If you are switching suppliers avoid companies with low customer service ratings. I have seen too many complaints about Ovo, British Gas or EDF to recommend them. And I’m not so sure that Octopus’s customer service is quite as good as the company would have us believe.
There are a couple of ways to help yourself. Take care inputting meter readings to be sure of getting the figures correct, as lots of billing problems stem from misreads.
If you are having a meter changed, take photos of the old numbers and keep a record. Problems are a nightmare to resolve.
How to complain
Letter writing is dead in my view – complain on the phone and follow up with an email. If you are getting nowhere, contact the company’s chief exec. The key is to write short, sensible, well-argued emails, complete with a brief timeline of events, and include your account number, plus your phone number.
Ranty, furious letters rarely work. Never swear on the phone, and treat the customer service person with respect. They have the power to help you, or the opposite.
In my experience, the financial, energy and other ombudsman services are so slow, and such a lottery, that I would make sure I had exhausted every other option before going down that route.
What about other stuff?
Tesco Mobile has the best customer service of the mobile suppliers by a country mile.
Virgin Media is the last company I will be switching to for home broadband because, based on letters from readers, its customer service is really poor. BT is expensive, and Sky is great but seems very hard to leave.
Don’t ever be tempted to rip out an older, but working, gas boiler on the basis that a new one will save you money; it won’t.
When buying appliances, my preferred choice is Bosch. Other brands may be more expensive and no better or longer-lasting.
For buying white goods, John Lewis appears finally to have resolved the terrible customer service that dogged it a few years ago. I’d recommend Marks Electrical as an alternative.
Unless I was buying a 100% electric car, I’ll be sticking to Toyota. With regular servicing they go on for ever and are comfortable, cheap to run and safe to be in.
After 20 years of reader complaints, I would not consider a German brand, or anything built by Jaguar Land Rover
The AA and RAC recovery services are not what they were, and the recent complaints from readers left on the roadside for hours by the RAC mean that I won’t be buying its cover any time soon.
LV= has better service, but it’s now quite expensive. At £64 a year AutoAid’s cover is a bargain. I first wrote about this company 20 years ago.
If you are heading off on holiday, remember that car hire is war. Some of Europe’s most unscrupulous businesses are car hire firms.
I always book through an aggregator website, opt not for the cheapest but the second or third cheapest, and for an in-terminal pickup. Make sure you note every bit of damage on the form before leaving the airport. Buy excess cover from ReduceMyexcess, rather than the hire firm. And read my Money Hacks guide on how to avoid getting ripped off.
If you travel abroad regularly, get a Halifax Clarity credit card for zero-fee purchases, and cheap-ish cash access via ATMs. To transfer money to accounts abroad I use Wise, which is super-fast, and charges a fraction of what big banks do.
Two single duvets are the secret to happy bedtimes, and buying a new mattress or a fitted kitchen is always a nightmare – regardless of whether you are a consumer champion or not.
Some of Brignall’s biggest wins
In his years as one half of our Consumer Champions team, Miles Brignall has won justice, and cash, for hundreds of readers. Here are some of his greatest hits.
In just a few weeks during the spring of 2019, Guardian Money readers were reunited with a total of £290,000 that they had lost through number-spoofing scams. Several readers wrote in after similar stories about scammers posing as banks to persuade victims to transfer money to them. Our champion persuaded their banks to review whether they had done enough to stop the frauds taking place. In most cases those reviews led to a full refund.
A reader contacted us this year about his son-in-law – a deaf man with vulnerabilities – who had been used by fraudsters to apply for a £28,000 business loan. The family knew nothing until demands started landing on the doorstep. They had been desperately trying to sort things out, to no avail. When our man got involved he quickly had concerns about the way Metro Bank had allowed an account to be set up, and after a review the bank agreed it had made mistakes. The loan was written off.
Another reader was in tears after being reunited with his car, thanks to the consumer champion’s efforts. Bouchaib Moussaid, a care worker, had his vehicle seized and put up for auction by Transport for London after the number plates were copied and a cloned car racked up fines for driving in the ultra-low emission zone (Ulez). His family’s appeals went unheeded but, after Brignall got involved, the fines were cancelled and the sale stopped. It was the perfect birthday present for Moussaid.
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